merino, merinosmetal processed mineral used in industry <strong>and</strong> society, eg, iron, steel, gold, mercury, silver etc.mettle resolute, strong character.meter, metres A meter is a device for measuring; a metre is a finite length.meticulous Should not be confused with ‘scrupulous’ or simply ‘careful’. It has the usefulmeaning of ‘too careful’, ‘slavishly precise’.militia <strong>and</strong> military are often confused. A militia is a fighting unit made up of reservists, orcitizen soldiers, not professional soldiers. A military unit, on the other h<strong>and</strong>, is an army ofprofessional soldiers.minuscule A spelling to watch.money See numbers.monetise 21st century vogue word meaning to convert an activity into one that earns money.An example might be where bloggers monetise their site, by selling advertising <strong>and</strong> payingthemselves.monetarism an economic theory based on money supply.moving on cliché for somebody who is not letting past events dominate their thinking, words<strong>and</strong> actions. Avoid it <strong>and</strong> use the simpler words of the definition.mucous (adj) ‘mucous membrane’; mucus (n) is the fluid of the mucous membrane.muslim (n) a follower of Islam. Hence muslim countries, muslim law.NNASA National Aeronautics <strong>and</strong> Space Administration (USA)NASAA National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia.NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation – former cold war association. Formed in 1949by some European countries with US <strong>and</strong> Canada to form defence alliance against the thenSoviet Union (USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics). Reformed in 1991 as a group ofEuropean countries extending non-military cooperation <strong>and</strong> demilitarisation to former easternbloc nations. Russia invited to join in 2002.names (see also News Ltd section) Names of people, places <strong>and</strong> things are of fundamentalimportance to news writing. The correct names <strong>and</strong> the correct spelling of names must alwaysbe checked <strong>and</strong> rechecked. Even the most common-sounding name must not be assumed tobe spelt the usual way: consider Smith, Smyth <strong>and</strong> Smythe; Main St, Maine St <strong>and</strong> MayneSt; Fraser <strong>and</strong> Frazer; Ffrench <strong>and</strong> French; Thompson, Thomson, Thomsen, Thompsen<strong>and</strong> Tomson; Johnson, Jonsson, Jonsen, Johnston <strong>and</strong> Johnstone. Some cultures use namesdifferently from the European way.Asian names* Chinese: In Chinese names, the family name (surname) comes first. For example, ‘ChiangChi-kwang’, in a second reference, becomes ‘Mr Chiang’. (For guidance, hyphens neverappear in surnames.) Some Chinese adopt the Western <strong>style</strong> of family name last, though toavoid confusion they often use initials, for example, ‘C.K. Chiang’.UQ <strong>SJC</strong> STYLEBOOK <strong>2012</strong> – PAGE 48
* Indonesian: Some Indonesians have only one name, some two or more by which they wish tobe known, for example, ‘Suharto’, ‘Deddy Isk<strong>and</strong>ar Muda’.* Japanese: Among themselves, Japanese use the family name first, then the given name (onlyever one), for example, ‘Sato Ichiro’. In English you would refer to him as ‘Mr Sato’. Whenspeaking with foreigners Japanese may adopt the Western order, ‘Ichiro Sato’.* Korean: Similar to Chinese, for example, ‘Yi Yoon-kyung’; then ‘Ms Yi’.* Vietnamese: Vietnamese have two-part or three-part names. Though the family name is placedfirst, the last name is the key to identification. Therefore, in a first reference say, ‘Vo Van Kiet’,then ‘Mr Kiet’ (not ‘Mr Vo’).Muslim, Polynesian or Hungarian names may also have the family name first. Many culturesdo not share the European practice of a married woman taking her husb<strong>and</strong>’s family name; thewife retains her family name. In some languages, such as Russian, a diminutive name may beused instead of the formal name. Always check carefully the correct use of names.name <strong>and</strong> position the convention in broadcast is to give the position first, then the person’sname. In print the convention operates the other way round – name first then position. Viz,‘ABC company managing director, Steve Ingliss says…’ versus ‘Steve Ingliss, managingdirector of the ABC company, said…’.netbook a miniature, low-cost laptop designed to primarily connect to the internet.negress not used. African American is the term used. Not Afro-American. Or if she is from anAfrican nation, simply identify her by her nationality, if necessary, otherwise simply her name.negro (see negress)next edge in social networking it’s the next development opportunity.Niagara may rhyme with Viagra but it has one more ‘a’.no brainer ambiguous 21st century vogue word meaning ‘clueless conduct or stupid act, usuallyending in grief’ or ‘simple decision that is easy to arrive at’. Use only when quoting source.Better, use simpler words of the definition.non-sexist language Avoid using gender-exclusive terms such as ‘fireman’ (use ‘firefighter’) <strong>and</strong>‘man-made’ (‘artificial’, ‘manufactured’).nor Use only after ‘neither’.NRMA is the NSW equivalent of RACQ, RACV, RACWA, RAA (SA) <strong>and</strong> st<strong>and</strong>s for NationalRoads <strong>and</strong> Motorists Association.numbers, figures Numbers from nought up to <strong>and</strong> including nine are usually spelt out. Numbersincluding <strong>and</strong> above 10 are written in figures. The exceptions are in such constructions as‘9am’, ‘January 2’, ‘2c’, ‘$3’, ‘5 per cent’, ‘Erik Bloodaxe, 6, of St Lucia, . . .’ (but ‘six-yearoldErik’).Bloodaxe’). Numbers that contain four numerals do not have a comma, those with five numeralsor more do. So ‘1993’ but ‘19,993’. Millions are written in figures <strong>and</strong> words: 2 million.Do not start a sentence with figures: if the number must occur at the start of the sentence, spellit out. Decimals require careful attention. Such expressions as .5 are meaningless <strong>and</strong> maybe misleading if the decimal point is not clearly printed – the correct form is 0.5. The zero isimportant in writing decimal currency figures — $1.05, $210.08, but $5, not $5.00 – <strong>and</strong> time– 2.09pm, but 2pm, not 2.00pm.PAGE 49 – <strong>2012</strong>UQ <strong>SJC</strong> STYLEBOOK
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